The European Union and the Muslim World
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This foreign policy course offers a systematic overview on European Union relations with the Muslim World and Muslim Communities, including inside Europe, on the periphery of Europe as well as beyond Europe. It encompasses issues of security, international relations, comparative public policy and intercultural dialogue.
The course will cover:
- The European Union and the Muslim World – Background, Concepts, Actors
- Relations within the European Union with its Muslim communities
- Relations with the periphery: the importance of Turkey to the EU
- Relations beyond Europe
- Wrap up: The way forward and comparative approaches
All IES courses require attendance and participation. Attendance is mandatory per IES policy. Any unexcused absence will incur a penalty of 3% on your final grade. Any student who has more than three (3) unexcused absences will receive an “F” as the final grade in the course. Absences due to sickness, religious observances, and family emergencies may be excusable at the discretion of the Center Director.
In the case of an excused absence, it is the student’s responsibility to inform the Academic Dean of the absence with an Official Excused Absence Form, as well as any other relevant documentation (e.g. a doctor’s note), and to keep a record thereof. This form must be turned in as soon as possible before the class, in the case of a planned absence, or immediately after the class, in the case of an unplanned absence, in order for the absence to be considered excused. It is also the student’s responsibility to inform the professor of the missed class. Students can collect and submit the Official Excused Absence Form from the office of the Academic Dean.
Tests missed during unexcused absences cannot be made up
Updated information on your course and readings can be found on Moodle.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Analyze the complex political ties and intercultural challenges of the European Union and Muslim countries and communities throughout the world practically and theoretically
- Discuss Euro-Arab relations, conflicts and security issues.
- Analyse the multi-faceted dimensions and strategic importance of EU-Muslim World relations in a multipolar international order,
- Compare and contrast the EU perspective and US approaches in assessing dialogue and cooperation with Muslim countries.
- Demonstrate a deeper understanding of the intercultural communication aspects and perspectives of international relations beyond the usual “clash of civilizations” or religious-secular polemics.
Lectures, Presentations, Seminar discussions, Case studies, Field Study Visit
- Participation in seminar discussions - 10%
- Four analytic writing assignments - 20%
- Two Essays - 20%
- Midterm exam - 25%
- Final exam - 25%
Seminar discussions
Seminar discussiona are based upon the compulsory readings and teaching introductions to the subject given at each session. The lecturer will give an introduction and background to the topic and all students are expected to join the seminar discussions following the teaching introductions with (prepared) questions and points related to the readings. Additional material may also be distributed in class by the instructor in order to briefly develop relevant points raised.
Analytic writing assignments
Four analytic writing assignments (500-1000 words each). These will be written on session-related topics (a discussion question will be provided for each written assignment). Written assignments are to be submitted via e-mail before the start of the respective session indicated in the syllabus.
Essays
Two essays (2000-3000 words each). Students are required to discuss methodological issues with Dr. Heine no later than one week before the submission deadline (see office hours). Essays will be written on session-related topics. The essays and written assignments will develop the capacity for critical academic analysis and serve as a basis for seminar discussions and group projects. They are to be submitted via e-mail before the start of the respective session indicated in the syllabus.
Midterm exam: The midterm exam (90 minutes) consists of three essay questions covering the material of the first eight sessions.
Final exam: The final exam (90 minutes) consists of essay questions, based on arguments, facts, compulsory readings and other material distributed in class.
| SESSION | CONTENT | READINGS |
| PART I: The European Union and the Muslim World – Background, Concepts, Actors | ||
| 1 |
The European Union and the Muslim World
|
Required Readings:
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| 2 |
The Muslim World as a European Imagination
|
Required Readings:
|
| 3 |
The “Clash of Civilizations”: Huntington’s Thesis
|
Required Readings:
|
| 4 |
Islam in the West or Westernized Islam?
Analytic Writing Assignment 1 |
Required Readings:
|
| 5 |
Integrating Islam in Europe and the transformation of the public sphere
Essay option 1 |
Required Readings:
Recommended Readings:
|
| 6 |
The Decline of European Multiculturalism: Muslim communities, Radicalism, Islamophobia and the Rise of Right-wing Populism in Europe
Essay option 2 |
Required Readings:
|
| EU Institutions Field Trip | ||
| PART II: Relations within the European Union with its Muslim communities | ||
| 7 |
UK: New Labour’s strategy of prevention and integration
Essay option 3 |
Required Readings:
|
| 8 |
Germany: incremental integration into a corporatist society
Analytic Writing Assignment 2 due |
Required Readings:
Recommended Readings:
|
| 9 |
France: Laicité and the perils of a secular reconquista
Essay option 4 |
Required Readings:
Recommended Readings:
|
| 10 | Mid-term Exam (on sessions 1-9) | |
|
PART III: The EU’s relations with potential member states |
||
| 11 |
The Rise of Islam in Politics in the Western Balkans
Essay option 5 |
Required Readings:
Recommended Readings:
|
| 12 |
EU-Turkey Relations
Essay option 6 |
Required Readings:
Recommended Readings:
|
| PART IV: Geopolitical challenges within the EU’s periphery | ||
| 13 |
The Arab Spring – From Protest to Revolution
|
Required Readings:
Recommended Readings:
|
| Member States Field Trip | ||
| 14 |
The European Union and the Arab Spring
Essay option 7 |
Required Readings:
Recommended Readings:
|
| 15 |
The New Arab Winter? – from Civil War to the Counter-Revolution Failed transition; authoritarian backlash; internal conflicts and the ‘success’ of ISIS Essay option 8 |
Required Readings: Khatib (2015: 1-28) Recommended Readings: Barnes-Dacey, Geranmayeh, and Levy (2015); International Crisis Group (2015) |
| 16 |
Turkey and the New Middle East
|
Required Readings:
Recommended Readings:
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| 17 |
The New Middle East: a region between continued fragmentation and geopolitical reordering
Essay option 9 |
Required Readings:
Recommended Readings:
Required Readings:
|
| 18 |
Relations with the Muslim World – a comparison of EU and US approaches
Taking stock and final discussion round |
|
| 19 | FINAL EXAM | |
- Amiraux, Valérie (2012) ‘Racialization and the challenge of Muslim integration in the European Union’ in Shahram Akbarzadeh (ed.) Handbook of Political Islam, Routledge, pp. 205-224.
- Barnes-Dacey, Julien and Daniel Levy (2015) Syrian Diplomacy Renewed: From Vienna to Raqqa (Policy Brief): London: ECFR.
- Bicchi, Federica (2014) ‘Europe and the Arab Uprisings’ in Fawaz a. Gerges (ed.) The New Middle East. Protest and Revolution in the Arab World. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 429-45.
- Boubekeur, Amel (2015) The Politics of Protest in Tunisia (SWP Comments 13). Berlin: SWP.
- Bougarel, Xavier (2003) ‘Islam and Politics in the Post-Communist Balkans (1990-2000)’ in D. Keridis and Ch. Perry (eds.) New Approaches to Balkan Studies, Brassey’s, Dules, pp. 345-360.
- Bougarel, Xavier (2007) ‘Bosnian Islam as “European Islam”: Limits and Shifts of a Concept’ in A. Al-Azmeh and E. Fokas (eds.) Islam in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 96-124.
- Buruma, Ian (2006) Murder in Amsterdam. Liberal Europe, Islam and the Limits of Tolerance. Penguin Books.
- Buruma, Ian (2010) Taming the Gods. Religion and Democracy on three Continents. Princeton University Press.
- Esfandiary, Dina and Ariane Tabatabai (2015) ‘Iran’s ISIS policy’, International Affairs 91: 1, pp. 1-15
- Greenfield, Danya, A. Hawthorne, and R. Balfour (2013) US and EU: Lack of Strategic Vision, Frustrated Efforts Toward the Arab Transitions. Washington, D.C.: Atlantic Council.
- Huntington, Samuel P. (1993) ‘The Clash of Civilizations?’, Foreign Affairs, Summer 1993, pp. 22-49.
- Hurd, Elizabeth Shakman (2010) ‘What is Driving the European Debate about Turkey?’, Insight Turkey 12: 1, pp. 185-203.
- International Crisis Group (2015a) A Sisyphean Task? Resuming Turkey-PKK Peace Talks (Europe Briefing N° 77). Istanbul and Brussels: ICG.
- Jones, Stephen H. (2013) ‘New Labour and the Re-making of British Islam: The Case of the Radical Middle Way and the “Reclamation” of the Classical Islamic Tradition’, Religions 4, pp. 550-566.
- Khatib, Lina (2015) The Islamic State’s Strategy. Lasting and Expanding. Beirut: Carnegie Middle East Center.
- Roy, Olivier (2004) Globalized Islam. The Search for a New Ummah. New York: Columbia University Press.
- Secularism Confronts Islam. New York: Columbia University Press.
- Roy, Olivier (2012) ‘The Transformation of the Arab World’, Journal of Democracy 23: 3, pp. 5-18.
- Said, Edward W. (1994) Orientalism. 25th anniversary edition. New York: Vintage Books.
- Al-Rasheed, Madawi (2015) Is it always good to be king? Saudi regime resilience after the 2011 Arab popular uprisings (LSE Middle East Centre Paper Series 12). London: LSE.
- Amghar, Samir et al. (2007) European Islam. Challenges for Public Policy and Society. Brussels: CEPS.
- Amiraux, Valérie and David Koussens (2013) From Law to Narratives. Unveiling Contemporary French Secularism (RECODE Working Paper No. 19). Augsburg: RECODE.
- Asad, T. (2003) Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford University Press.
- Asseburg, M. (ed.) (2012) Protest, Revolt and Regime Change in the Arab World. Actors, Challenges, Implications and Policy Options. Berlin: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik.
- Ayoob, M. (2008) The Many Faces of Political Islam. University of Michigan Press.
- Barnes-Dacey, J. and D. Levy (ed.) (2013) The Regional Struggle for Syria. London: ECFR.
- Barnes-Dacey, Julien, Ellie Geranmayeh, and Daniel Levy (2015) The Islamic State trough the Regional Lens. London: ECFR.
- Bassiri Tabrizi, A. (2014) The EU’s sanctions regime against Iran in the aftermath of the JPA (Policy Memo). London: ECFR.
- Del Sarto, Raffaella A. (2015) ‘Normative Empire Europe: The European Union, its Borderlands and the “Arab Spring”’, Journal of Common Market Studies 2015, early view, pp. 1-18.
- Elbasani, Arolda (2015) The Revival of Islam in the Post-Communist Balkans: Coercive Nationalisms and New Pathways to God (EUI Working Paper RSCAS 2015/28). San Domenico di Fiesole: EUI.
- Esposito, J. L. (1998) Islam: The Straight Path. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
- Engaging with Iran: A European Agenda (Policy Brief 139). London: ECFR.
- International Crisis Group (2013) Bosnia’s Dangerous Tango: Islam and Nationalism (Europe Briefing N° 70). Sarajevo and Brussels: ICG.
- International Crisis Group (2014) Iran and the P5+1: Getting to “Yes” (Middle East Briefing N° 40). Istanbul: ICG.
- International Crisis Group (2015) Libya: Getting Geneva Right (Middle East and North Africa Report N° 157). Brussels: ICG.
- Karabekir, A., K. Nicolaïdis, and K. Öktem (2013) The Western Condition: Turkey, the US and the EU in the New Middle East (South East European Studies at Oxford, SEESOX), University of Oxford.
- Kirişci, Kemal and Elizabeth Ferris (2015) Not Likely to Go Home: Syrian Refugees and the Challenges to Turkey – and the International Community (Turkey Project Policy Paper Number 7). Washington, D.C.: Brookings.
- Kortmann, Matthias and Kerstin Rosenow-Williams (2013) ‘Islamic Umbrella Organizations and Contemporary Political Discourse on Islam in Germany: Self-Portrayals and Strategies of Interaction’, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 33: 1, pp. 41-60.
- Marcou, Jean (2013) Turkey’s Foreign Policy: Shifting Back to the West after a Drift to the East? (Turkey Policy Brief Series 8). Ankara: tepav.
- Pierini, Marc and Sinan Ülgen (2014) A Moment of Opportunity in the EU–Turkey Relationship. Brussels: Carnegie Europe.
- Posch, W. (2013) The Third World, Global Islam and Pragmatism. The Making of Iranian Foreign Policy. Berlin: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik.
- Seufert, Günter (2015) The Return of the Kurdish Question (SWP Comments 38). Berlin: SWP. ">
- Tarlo, Emma (2007) ‘Islamic Cosmopolitanism: The Sartorial Biographies of Three Muslim Women in London’, Fashion Theory 11: 2/3, pp. 143-172. ">
